Odisha seeks Centre’s support to re-commence Covid vaccination

Bhubaneswar: The state government today urged the Centre to provide the necessary guidance and support for re-commencing the precaution dose vaccination in Odisha.

Odisha has so far administered 8.14 crore doses of Covid-19 vaccines. Of this, altogether 3.52 crore doses have been administered as first dose, 3.30 crore as second dose and 1.31 crore as precaution dose, said Health and Family Welfare department Commissioner-cum-Secretary Shalini Pandit in a letter to the Secretary to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare today.

“All Covid-19 vaccines supplied from the Centre have been completely utilized by November 28. At present, there is no stock of Covid vaccines in Odisha. Now, there is a demand from citizens for precaution dose amid surge in Covid cases in countries like China, USA, Japan, Brazil and South Korea,” Pandit said in her letter.

According to Pandit, as many as 3.25 crore people in Odisha were eligible for precaution dose. Till date, only 1.31 crore citizens have been vaccinated with the precaution dose while the remaining 1.93 crore (59 per cent) are yet to be vaccinated with the same, Pandit said.

“You are therefore requested to provide necessary guidance and support for re-commencing precaution dose vaccination of left out citizens in government-run vaccination centres,” Pandit said in her letter to the Union Government.

Around 97 per cent eligible people in Odisha have been administered the first dose of Covid vaccines while 91 per cent received the second dose. But, only 41 per cent eligible people in the state have been administered the precaution dose, sources said.